Abstract

The emerging trend in high-performance computing is moving toward cluster and network-based computing, an approach in which powerful commodity singlemultiprocessor workstations or PCs are connected by either a general pur- pose local area network or specialized interconnects to achieve high performance. Such systems built with off-the-shelf components not only make them easy to build, but also decrease the lead time to market. These systems can be easily upgraded with constantly improving workstation PC and network hardware, unlike the traditional parallel machines built with custom components. The recent advances in high-speed networks, efficient networking protocols, and improved microprocessor design for higher performance, coupled with the availability of public domain software, including operating system, compiler tools, and message passing libraries, make cluster computing appealing in terms of both performance and cost-effectiveness. The increasing popularity of the Linux operating system and the availability of low cost PCs have resulted in a large number of Beowulf clusters. There have also been similar efforts on PC clusters based on the Windows NT operating system. The cost-performance benefit offered by PC clusters has put them in the list of top 500 supercomputers. Along with this, web-based computing or internet-based computing is becoming a popular paradigm for cost-effective high-performance computing.